I spent most of last night … until 1am in fact … devouring some new and old readings on applied improvisation. I purchased Robert Poynton’s new Do Lectures book – Improvise and dusted off a whole bunch of Group Work activities that joyfully immerse people in purposeful play. I feel like I have re discovered an old friend. I know that my application of activities from the Applied Improv world have, at times, missed the mark. But mostly, they have connected and supported groups to discover new ways of working, leading, collaborating and simply being with each other.

Last night on the tram I was approached by a middle aged lady who had been in a workshop I facilitated 3 years ago. I remembered her and she thanked me for playing an improv game called One Word Story with her team of about 25 people. She then told me how her team used the Improv principles of ‘Let-Go’, ‘YesAnd’ and ‘Notice More’ changed the course of their strategy. By applying these principles to their stakeholder engagement and collaboration, she said that their relationships with external organisations transformed. As a result their work found a new level and they managed to find new ways of approaching complex challenges. Moments like these are rare and she left me questioning myself … “Why have I stopped bringing principles and practices of Improvisation to my own group work?”

Note to self … time to re discover my love and application for Improvisation!